Lost
by Fififelicity
Summary: FF/FFX crossover. When Serenity crash lands on a strange planet through mysterious circumstances it's crew is greeted by a culture completely alien to anything they have known before, and adventure they never dreamed of. Canon/In game pairings.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own Firefly or Final fantasy. They are the property of superior beings.

Ok this is a concept that came to me a few months ago and wouldn't leave me alone so I thought I would write the first chapter and see how it went down. Please let me know what you think and whether you want anymore!

Chapter 1 now completely rewritten.

**Crashed**

Arguments at meal times were getting to be something of a routine on the ship. It seemed that there was no decision Mal could make anymore without someone causing a fuss. He really ought to lay down the law sometime soon, and remind them all just who was Captain on this boat. He was prepared, however, for the fall out of his latest announcement was going to cause. This time though he told himself, the plan was going to go ahead regardless. He wasn't going to be shouted down again, not this time. He looked up as Wash joined them all at the dinner table.

"Course is set, Mal. We should be touching down at Persephone docks this time tomorrow."

"Good. Jayne, Zoe, make sure you're in your best menacing mood. This time maybe Badger won't try and cheat me outta our earnings."

"Remind me again why we gotta deal with that huen dahn still? Ain't he proved he's nothing but a ruttin' crook?" Jayne grumbled.

"Work's scarce Jayne. You wanna keep eatin' don't you?" Zoe warned the mercenary.

"Besides, this time we're gonna have an Ace in our hand."

"And what would that be Mal? Your winning charm?" remarked Inara. Mal greeted her comment with a sarcastic smile then turned his gaze on the youngest diner at the table who appeared to be deeply involved in watching the bubbles rise in her glass.

"We're taking River with us."

The doctor at the other end of the table almost sprayed his drink across the table.

"What…she's _not_ going with you!" he exclaimed in shock. The shepherd also looked concerned.

"Captain, I'm not sure I understand the benefit of taking the child along," he remarked, brows contracting.

"There is none!" Jayne added looking at Mal in outraged disbelief.

"Mal, what the hell you on?! I ain't going into badgers den with crazy. Girl'll get us all killed!"

"Way I see it; it ain't none of your concern Jayne. Jobs go down the way I say they will. You wanna get paid, the girls part of the plan to make sure it happens, Dohn ma?"

"But Cap'n, what can River _do_ exactly?" Kaylee asked timidly.

"Heard tell last time badger took a liking to her. Figure we can get her to sweeten the deal our way."

"And if badger realises who she is?" Simon asked anger evident in his voice.

"If he was goin' to he'd have sent the Feds after us already," Zoe spoke up. Privately she had reservations herself, but orders were orders, and it was her job to back up the captain.

"Mei mei tell the Captain you won't go," Simon said coaxingly to his, so far mute, sister.

"All the worlds a stage. Parts to play. Actors in the wings have to play their roles."

"Seems to me, Doc, your sister's happy to come along. So y'all better get used to it!" Mal smiled along the table dangerously.

"Captain," Book spoke up firmly, "the girl isn't a bargaining chip."

"Go hwong tong!" Mal exclaimed.

"I'm captain, this is my gorram ship and this is the way it's gonna be! So if you don't like it you can–"

Before Mal could finish his tirade the ship gave an almighty lurch and a claxon sounded as the ship began shaking uncontrollably. Anger forgotten, Mal raced to the bridge, closely followed by Zoe, Wash and Jayne.

"Wuo duh tian ah!" exclaimed Wash at the sight that confronted them.

"What in ruttin' hell is that?" was Mal's response as he stared out of the window into a deep black vortex dead ahead of them. The abnormality appeared to distort and absorb the light from the star around them. Wash urgently flicked at the switches and controls around him.

"Oh this is not good, this is defiantly not good."

"Wash? You gonna give me some information here?"

"It's a wormhole Mal. I don't know where it came from but it's giving off a huge amount of gravity. It's pulling us in."

"Well gorram get my ship away from it then!" exclaimed Mal.

"I can't!" the blonde replied, his wife's hands on his shoulders attempting to calm him so he could think.

"Even if I had Kaylee in the engine room giving me all she's got Serenity ain't got enough pull to get us free. Hell, an Alliance cruiser couldn't get free!"

"Dark, deep rabbit hole, twisting and twining. End of worlds and start of new. Time to be Alice and face the dark."

Rivers voice sounded with an ethereal tone from the doorway.

"Gorammit girl!" Jayne exclaimed rushing towards her and trying to usher her off the bridge.

"Jayne, get her out of here, get everyone strapped in! Seems this is a storm we're just gonna have to weather."

He turned back to his pilot who seemed to almost be at war with the controls as the darkness loomed and the ship began to scream under pressure, lurching with increasing violence.

"Wash, try and keep her steady. Zoe, get strapped in. You best brace yourselves and hope we get through this!" he ordered as the maelstrom they appeared to be in continued to increase in violence as the darkness engulfed them.

XXXOOOXXX

Zoë's eyes were tightly closed as she felt herself tossed from side to side. Death was imminent she knew, no one went into a wormhole and survived. So when she suddenly felt the bone shaking lurching stop she imagined that that was it. The ship had breached and they were all dead. That was until she heard her husband speak weakly in front of her.

"I don't believe it. We're through. We made it through!"

Sure enough there in front of them was normal space and they appeared to be in orbit over a large planet. Mal was already on the com.

"You all okay back there?"

It was a few seconds before Jayne's reply crackled back to them

"Everyone's shiny Mal"

"Wash, where are we?" Zoe asked her husband as she suddenly noticed him flicking urgently at the Nav Sat controls. He turned to her, a plaintive look on his face.

"I…don't know. The nav's fried. But we really shouldn't be anywhere near a planet, the nearest one to where we were was at least a days travel away."

"Is that even possible?" asked Mal in shock.

"Well no. But by rights it's not possible to survive a wormhole either."

Mal had little time to digest this information however as Kaylee's voice suddenly crackled through the com system.

"Captain we have to land. Now!"

"What's wrong?"

"More like what ain't wrong! Life supports completely knocked out, and serenity ain't so much limpin' as crawlin' - she won't hold out much longer. If we don't get to ground were gonna be dead fish up here with no air!"

"Wash you heard her!" The pilot nodded and began to change course, pointing Serenity towards the world spinning below them.

"C'mon baby, just a little bit further," he cooed to the ship as the plastic dinosaurs began to rattle as the upper atmosphere shook them.

"Captain, do we even know if we can breathe down there?" Zoe asked doubtfully.

"No. But I do know we can't up here. Best hope the shepherds praying good and hard back there." He grinned at his first mate before turning his attention to the world coming up to meet them.

XXXOOOXXX

As they punched through the planet's atmosphere Serenity strained against the burning air around her and Wash had to fight with the controls just to keep her steady. Just as the ship was settling down, however, there was a huge bang and the ship began spinning uncontrollably.

"Kaylee! What's happening down there?" mal almost screamed into the com system.

"She couldn't hold together Cap'n. The port thruster's blown."

"Honey? Earths comin' up fast!" Zoe questioned her husband, fighting to keep her voice controlled.

"I've got hardly any power. I'll get us down, but it's not gonna be gentle."

Mal took one look at the panic in his pilot's face and shouted back down the Com.

"Kaylee get out of there. Nothin' more you can do. Strap in and hold on to something!"

As they rushed down towards the ground a mass of gold rose up to meet them before Serenity ploughed into a mass of sand with a groan and crash of bent and broken metal.

For a moment the only sound in the bridge was that of deep breathing as its occupants realised they were safe. Then there was the sound of heavy boots clumping along the metal corridor at speed and Jayne entered the room.

"Y'all still breathin' in here?"

"Just about," Wash responded weakly.

"Kaylee get out of the engine room in time?" asked Zoe of the hulking merc.

"Everyone's fine back there. Well exceptin' moon brain shoutin' bout wonderland and rabbit holes. Doc and Shepherd tryin'a quiet her down some."

Mal stood and stared out of the window in front of him. All he could see was a mass expanse of golden sand, piled in dunes and punctuated with what looked like abandoned scrap metal, underneath a clear azure blue sky. An empty, lifeless wasteland.

"Huh," scoffed Mal humourlessly, "some wonderland."

XXXOOOXXX


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: **__ I don't own Final Fantasy or Firefly…unfortunately._

_I apologise to those who caught the original first chapter. I decided it wasn't quite up to scratch and so I re-wrote it and decided to post it as two separate chapters. There are slightly different events, but still pretty much the same concept. Hope you think it's better, or at least just as good…_

**Where are we?**

Kaylee sat on a crate, staring out across the sandy expanse before her.

"Where d'ya suppose we are?" she asked of Simon who was stood resting his head against the metal of Serenity's hull just inside the cargo bay door, the shade protecting them from the burning heat of the desert sun.

"Well…" he began uncertainly, "could be we just crashed a small way from a settlement on a rim planet, and the Captain will come back with supplies and the parts you need for repairs." He said with false optimism, trying to cling to this hope and failing miserably.

"Alternatively were miles away from anyone and are going to die out here in the heat."

"Well you sure are comforting," Kaylee responded glumly to his second option.

"Or perhaps we've stumbled on a new and exciting planet, where fabulous adventures await," Wash suggested chirpily from behind them. Kaylee turned to smile at him.

"Any luck with the shuttle's nav sat?" she asked hopefully but the blonde shook his head.

"Seems the wormhole fried half our system. Plus the bumpy landing smashed the shuttles up so they're in no flying state. Seems we're land based for a while, best hope the others get some useful information on where we are."

"Any word yet?" came Inara's calm tones from the catwalk above. It was amazing how they could come through a wormhole and crash land on an unknown planet and still she looked exquisite, with not even a hair out of place in her elaborate hair arrangement.

"Not a sound," Kaylee responded, "but Captain said they'd only stop out an hour or so. Should be back any time now." Inara nodded her understanding and came to join them.

"How's River?" she enquired of Simon with empathy.

"She seems to be okay. Calmer at least."

He knotted his brow in confusion as he was prone to do when discussing his sister's condition.

"Shepherd Book's looking after her. She suddenly decided she wanted to draw his portrait. He had no complaint so…"

The young doctor shrugged his shoulders indicating that it was best not to argue as long as his sister was occupied and calm. It seemed, however, that this was not to be the case for long as presently the troubled brunette appeared in the cargo bay, quickly followed by a slightly flustered Book.

"River, really it's not quite right to take things like that. I thought we'd talked about this?" He called after the girl who now marched over to her brother, her floaty skirt flying behind her, and planted a small leather bound book in his hands.

"He herds his flock into a realm of falsehoods and lies. Denies corporeal existence, refuses to admit the reality of the wrongs. Woman was the conqueror, with her shimmering fading knight…must be taught the err…shown that they are wrong…Yevon does not forgive nor forget…"

"Mei mei!" Simon tried to pacify his sister who was talking in a voice fast becoming hysterical.

"Shhh, it's okay. I thought you and Shepherd Book were getting along?"

Over his sisters trembling back he sent the older man a questioning glance to which he shrugged his shoulders, while River continued to murmur about fallacies and deception although her voice was beginning to calm.

"She was fine and then suddenly she was talking about the 'vanquisher of sin.' She wanted to read the book so I gave it to her but it just got her more worked up." He pulled out a wad of papers from his pocket and held them up.

"She took a particular objection to the New Testament."

Inara hastily hid a slight smile, instead trying to help Simon calm River as Simon began blurting out a bumbling apology to the Shepherd.

The incident was quickly forgotten, however, as Kaylee announced the return of the mule, and sure enough it could be seen approaching in the distance, sending a cloud of sand up behind it. The Shepherd joined Kaylee in watching from the doorway.

"They seem to be coming in a mite fast…" Book observed as the mule quickly became increasingly clear.

"Is something wrong?!" Inara asked in alarm.

Her question was quickly answered as Jayne drove the mule straight into the bay, screeching to a halt before Mal jumped out of the passenger seat.

"Shut the doors. Now!" he bellowed at Simon who was closest.

"Mal?" Inara asked in excited concern. "What happened?"

"We sure as hell ain't in Kansas anymore darlin', that's what!"

XXXOOOXXX

Wash wasn't listening to their exchange, however. He was too busy eyeing the two huge scratch marks across his wife's back, and the way she remained sprawled in the back of the mule half conscious.

"Zoe?!" he cried, rushing to her side and Simon, alerted by his cry was with him in seconds.

"I need her in the infirmary! Right now!" He ordered, and there was a bustle of movement as Jayne scooped her up effortlessly and everyone else dissolved into panic.

"Oh god, captain what…"

"Mal what happened?!"

"…that didn't look like a weapon wound…"

"Bi Jweh!" bellowed Mal, silencing them all at once.

"Let the doc see to Zoe, and then we'll have a chance to explain everything."

Half an hour later Simon had sewn up the two gashes. In reality, they weren't too deep, and she hadn't lost a lot too much blood. There was no sign of any other trauma either. But still Zoë's condition seemed to be deteriorating despite's Wash's heartfelt pleas for her to wake up and Simon's best efforts. He had his suspicions however, but he needed more information about what had caused her wounds before he attempted further treatment.

"Was it an animal? The thing that did this?" Simon asked the Captain who was pacing at the foot of the infirmary bed.

"Sure as hell wasn't human," he responded.

"Ain't ever seen anything like it in the 'verse."

"What was it?" asked Kaylee, a scared look in her eyes.

"Like a big bird thing. Real big. And ugly," Jayne spoke up. "Was 'most the size of the gorram ship!"

"As big as the ship?" Inara asked incredulously, "Surely…"

"He ain't lying," Mal cut in. "We tried to shoot it down only the thing had other ideas…" He gestured to Zoë's prone form as evidence of what had happened. Then the Captain turned to Simon who was still attending to his first mate.

"What you thinking doc?" he asked, eyeing Simon's concerned and thoughtful face.

"Poison," came the reply.

"Poison?!" Wash asked incredulously, grasping his wife's hand tighter still. Simon nodded.

"It's the only thing that explains her condition. A debilitating venom, probably in the talons. To subdue it's prey."

"Can you treat it?" asked Mal, trying to remain focused and practical, rather than linger on the idea of Zoe as prey. Again the doctor nodded but less certainly.

"I can slow it's effects, but I need an antidote in the next forty-eight hours. Something I don't have here."

Mal looked at the doctor as his prognosis sunk in, while Wash tried to block out his words. The captain turned to face the rest of the crew who, still badly shaken after the crash, were now looking increasingly pale in the face of this latest calamity. His eyes lingered particularly on Inara, and he hated to consider her being harmed at the claws of a monster like that which he had already encountered. The scene was creepily familiar to their situation on Simon's birthday only a couple of months earlier. At least this time they weren't like to run out of air anytime soon he consoled himself.

"Seems like we got two options here," Mal began. "We can stay here and wait for more of those bird things, and whatever else is out there to find us. Or we can take our chances and head out. Hope to find someone can help us."

"I thought it was just a wilderness out there?" Inara asked him, eyebrows raised.

"True enough, we saw a hell of a lot of sand, but seems to be traces of machines out there. Evidence there's some life on this rock somewhere. We've just got to find it."

"You want us to just abandon Serenity?" Kaylee asked in a small voice, subconsciously stroking the hull of the ship she loved so much.

"Now don't go frettin' none li'l Kaylee. We'll be back for her."

"What about my _wife_ Mal? You gonna come back for her too?" Wash spoke up in angry tones.

"We'll take Zoe in the mule. If she needs an antidote best have her with us when we find it. Now I'll hear no more arguing on the subject, this is what's happening. Jayne, get what food and weapons we need. Doc and I'll get Zoe settled in the mule. The rest of you, get ready to go."

"Don't have to," River spoke up now, staring solidly at the captain.

"She wants to stay, let her," Jayne growled, heading towards the mess.

"Heathens come to see the silver bird." River smiled nonchalantly. "Knock knock at the door."

XXXOOOXXX

At her words a large banging could be heard coming from the cargo bay. The rest of the group froze in shock and terror.

"Da shiong la se ch'wohn tian!" Jayne exclaimed, cocking Vera who had been hanging from his shoulder since their return to the ship earlier.

"Girl gets creepier by the second."

The noises got louder as the group seemed frozen to their places, contemplating the worst.

"Rude to keep them waiting!" River admonished the captain, her words almost deafened by an explosion that rocked the ship. Spurred into action, be it by the noise or River's words, Mal headed towards the cargo bay.

"Ta ma duh! Who's blowin' a whole in my gorram ship!" he bellowed as he left the area, closely followed by a heavily armed Jayne, and belatedly the other members of the crew. As he entered the bay, however, the sight that met him was unexpected to say the least. He came to a complete stop causing Jayne to run into him, followed by everyone else. There, stood around the mule, were a dozen or so armed figures dressed in rubber suits and goggles and all of them with their rifles trained on him and his crew.

"Who the gorram hell are you, and why you on my _ship_?" he asked the silent crowd as his stunned crew filtered into the bay behind him.

"Mufain ouin faybuhc!" came the aggressive response.

"That ain't ruttin' Chinese," Jayne muttered, still clutching Vera to him and eyeing the intruders with distrust.

"Mufain ouin faybuhc yht oui fuhd pa rind!" the nearest figure shouted again.

"If you're gonna try and take my ship at least do it in a language I understand!" shouted an exasperated Mal. There was a shuffling at that moment and for a moment Mal thought his words had provoked a reaction. Moments later he realised the strangers were moving back to allow a new figure entrance. The figure seemed shorter and rounder than his companions, but he appeared to command respect and what was more, he wasn't wearing face obscuring goggles.

"They want you to lower your guns boy!" he announced in a booming voice reminiscent of the farm hands Mal had encountered back on Shadow.

"You say this here's your hunk of junk?" the man questioned Mal, but before he could reply with an aggressive affirmative Kaylee cut in to the exchange.

"Serenity ain't junk!" she cried in indignation.

"Hush Kaylee!" Mal responded trying to subdue his mechanic, but to no avail.

"She ain't Cap'n can't go letting him say she is!" the brunette fixed the intruder who reminded her of her daddy with a glare full of pride, the slant on serenity making her forget the danger.

"She mightn't be lookin' her best right now, but a few repairs and she'll be right as rain. She ain't junk!"

Mal winced. In his experience captors with the upper hand didn't like to be shouted at. This figure, however, appeared to be the exception to the rule. He knocked his head back and let out a great guffaw of laughter at Kaylee's words, patting the perturbed girl heartily on the shoulder.

"Spoken with true Al Bhed spirit! The name's Cid. Now you fancy telling me how you wound up out here in the middle of Bikanel Desert?"

XXXOOOXXX

_Thanks for reading, please review. More to come soon…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Firefly or Final Fantasy.

_Thankyou very much to all those who have reviewed so far!__ I hope you continue to enjoy this story._

**Questions**

"Huh," was the only response Malcolm Reynolds could muster. Their apparent captor had rendered him speechless as not only had he responded to Kaylee's outrage with good natured laughter, but in one short speech he had further increased Mal's suspicion that wherever they were, it wasn't part of the verse he knew. It was Wash, however, who was first to voice the questions running through everyone's mind.

"Erm, excuse me?" he asked, holding his hand up to attract attention and looking enquiring.

"Al Bhed? Bikanel? I'm not sure I've ever…" he looked at Mal in confusion, "do we know what he's talking about?"

"Surely don't," Mal replied shortly, looking questioningly at the stout man before him, having finally recovered the use of his vocal chords.

"Ha! That what they're teaching you Yevonites nowadays? More lies?" The man returned, the geniality he had displayed towards Kaylee seeming to have drained from his face.

"Yevon?" Simon questioned quietly to Kaylee who shrugged her shoulders, but Cid caught his question.

"Next you'll be telling me you don't know about Sin either!" the man remarked, clearly angered now as he glared at Simon. His comment however caused misattributed comprehension to dawn in Mal's mind.

"Oh I get it!" he announced grinning dangerously, "y'all some crazy religious gathering. We met the likes of you on Jiangyin once; they didn't take to us too well neither. Well I left religiosity behind some while back. Preacher, these are more your kind'a people!"

He spoke in a cocky manner, confident that these intruders would be just as easy to deal with as the settlers they had rescued the Tam's from, and ignoring Inara's warning nudge. He was swiftly deprived of his temporary understanding, however, by the man who had introduced himself as Cid

"Religious?! You really that dumb, boy? You Yevonites branded us heathens centuries ago!" Once again Mal was speechless and confused.

"But sin…you said…" he spluttered.

"The book's wrong," River remarked, looking at the Captain like he was an ignorant student, "does not apply." Mal looked at her, lost even further, before pulling himself together. This conversation was getting him nowhere, and he had had enough of trying to follow it.

"All right. Right now I don't give a good gorram who you are or what Al-bhedy-whats-it is. I got me a broken ship and a dying first mate, I've been attacked by a huen dahn giant flying _thing_ and I wanna know – you here to help us or kill us? 'Cause I got no patience for them as try the latter!"

Cid seemed to consider his words for a moment, eyeing Mal suspiciously.

"You really are clueless aren't you boy?" he concluded finally, deciding to believe the strangely dressed foreigner before him. His ignorance was really too much for any Yevonite to attempt to pull of, and to be truthful, with the world the way it was nowadays, the Al Bhed were under a lot less of a threat.

"Well not like it's never happened before. At least you're not claiming you're from Zanarkand. Well y' can't stay out here, 'specially if you can't handle one Zu on your own. You best come with us. And we'll see what we can do for your injured if you want."

Faced with no other course of action, Mal nodded, his jaw set to at least preserve some sense of what he imagined was his imposing presence. As the intruders relaxed their weapons and seemed to begin preparations for their departure, the captain turned to his crew.

"Zanar-what?" Jayne asked eyeing the strangers suspiciously as they began conversing quietly in their own language.

"Mal, how do we know we can trust them?" asked Inara in a hushed whisper.

"We don't." Mal replied shortly, "but right now they're the only thing standing 'tween us and dyin' so you got any better ideas I'm all ears!" He looked at the companion with an unspoken dare in his eyes and she glared daggers back but was forced to concede his point grudgingly.

"There's too much here don't make sense. Any of the stuff he was talking about make sense to anyone else?" He was met with a collection of blank and troubled faces in response; all except River who was watching the rubber clad group work with interest. He gestured towards the girl.

"Well she seems calm at least, that's somethin'. Seems to me if somethin' was a foot she'd be kicking up a stink right about now. For now, let's do what the man says. Jayne, go gather what weapons and ammo you can, it's like we'll need 'em out there. Doc, you and Wash get Zoe down here; see if they have something we can use to help her. Everyone else gather what you think you'll need. Bare essentials only. Meet back here in 5 minutes."

"What about you Cap'n," Kaylee asked as everyone began to do as he asked.

"I'm gonna see if I can't get some more information outta that Cid guy. Run along li'l Kaylee, don't look like they wanna be stayin' much longer."

XXXOOOXXX

As the mechanic headed up to the overhead catwalk, Mal approached the bald older man who seemed to be examining the mule with great interest.

"This thing move?" he asked as the Captain approached him.

"She does," Mal concurred, "Only thing 'cept us survived the crash intact it seems. But that aint really top of my priorities right now. I still got all manner of questions for you. That conversation we had back there left us all more than a mite confused."

"If you're lookin' for a history of Spira I've not got the time or the knowledge to help you. History isn't kind to the Al Bhed."

"Spira…right. So that would be?" Mal asked, yet again confronted with an unknown word.

"You don't know Spira? Even Blondie knew that much!"

Mal repressed an urge to ask who "Blondie" was. _'One question at a time, Mal,'_ he told himself, willing himself to be patient.

"Spira's this here world. And, as I remember, you still haven't told me how you got here."

"My spaceship crashed, you might'a noticed…" Mal began, but broke off from his planned sarcastic remark at the look on Cid's face.

"Boy, did you…did you just say 'space ship'?"

"Well, like Kaylee said she might not look much, but what else d'ya think she was?!" Mal asked confused. Cid however was staring around the ship with renewed interest.

"We thought she was an airship…nothing to the ones we've salvaged before…but…Space y'say?! Didn't think that was possible." The man's gruff voice had grown soft at this discovery; his tone was almost reverent.

"Boy, seems you and me might just be able to get along!" the man stated, clapping Mal forcefully on the back.

"We'll help you fix your ship and answer your questions about Spira best we can, provided you show us how you manage to fly in space."

Mal smiled at the man, glad that _finally_ something had gone right.

"Cid, seems you and me got ourselves a deal," he announced, grasping the man's hand in a firm hand shake.

XXXOOOXXX

Kaylee was stood in the engine room, feeling lost. When the Captain sent them to gather a few things she had headed to her bunk for a handful of clean clothes. Her eyes had fallen momentarily on her pretty pink dress with all the layers, but she knew the captain would only go on if she tried to take it and reluctantly she had left it behind. She had come to the engine room with the intention of grabbing some tools. You never knew when a monkey wrench could come in handy she figured. When she had met the sight of Serenity's engine so still and quiet, however, she couldn't help feeling unsettled, and the reality of the past few hours began to sink in. She hated to see her baby so sick with no way to help her, and now they were abandoning her to go off who knew where with a bunch of strangers. She had no clue where they were, or how they were going to get home, and from what the captain had said, there were all sorts of monsters and things lurking just outside ready to try and hurt them. If only she had been able to keep her flying, or had somehow given wash the power to avoid the wormhole, maybe none of this would have happened, she considered sadly. It was always her way, when something was wrong with Serenity, to wonder what it was that she had neglected or misread that had led to this, despite logic telling her that it wasn't her fault. Lost in her depressed and frightened reverie, she hardly heard River's quiet entrance behind her, and jumped when the younger woman spoke.

"It will be all right. She will fly again," River said reassuringly, "not your fault."

"What if we don't come back, River?" Kaylee spoke, emotion colouring her tone, "I'll just have abandoned her."

"We will. Serenity knows it, wants us to go and be safe. She'll wait for us."

River spoke with certainty, even if she did not elaborate on how she knew this, and Kaylee couldn't help but trust her. The girl may be young and Jayne may call her crazy, but there was something in River's voice that meant Kaylee had to believe her. River picked up the mechanic's forgotten toolbox and placed it in Kaylee's hand.

"You'll need these," she said softly, smiling at the brunette before gently taking her hand and leading her coaxingly towards the cargo bay.

XXXOOOXXX

As they entered they saw that Simon and Wash had successfully managed to get Zoe into the mule and were proceeding to make her as comfortable as possible. Mal looked at his first mate, ensconced in pillows with a sheen of sweat upon her brow, in concern before turning to Cid who, despite his reservations, he had an inkling he might just get to like.

"You really think you can do something for her?" he asked quietly so as not to let Wash overhear their conversation.

"Doc says she's been poisoned by something in that bird thing's talons, she needs some sort of antidote."

"Poisoned eh?" Cid remarked dismissively, "I thought you were talking about something serious, just get her a remedy and be done with it!"

"Yeah…y'see there ain't no cure all remedy. Doc says she needs something particular. If I had somethin' to cure all ills I'd be a rich man!" Mal countered, annoyed that this man was so flippant about the fate of his first mate.

"Rubbish!" exclaimed Cid before motioning over another of his companions and pointing the man towards Zoe.

"Tu oui y budeuh fedr oui?"

"Oac" the man nodded at Cid.

"Cra'c paah buecuhat, ku cruf dras ruf du veq ran ib. Drao'na yc lmiamacc yc pypeac!"

Mal was clueless as to what passed between the two men. He was spurred into action, however, as Simon and Wash reacted badly to the delegated stranger attempting to force a forbidding looking substance down Zoë's throat.

"Hey!" Mal turned on Cid in anger, "I asked if you could help her, not kill her!"

"We are helping!" Cid replied, moving towards the mule and bodily pushing Simon away allowing his man to administer the liquid.

"It's an Al Bhed potion – an all in one treatment for most of the ills you'll find in the desert. Can't bring back the dead but it'll help her. Just you watch."

The men turned their eyes to Zoe, as did nearly everyone else in the vicinity, their attention attracted by the ruckus the treatment had caused. For a moment there was silence, and then Zoe gave a great gasp and her eyes flickered open.

"Zoe?" Wash asked tentatively, grasping her hand.

"Wash? What's going on, why's everyone staring? And who's that?" she asked in groggy confusion, looking over at Cid and the other Al Bhed. Wash smiled at her in relief.

"You had us worried there lambie toes," he smiled.

"Glad you're back with us, Zoe," Mal added with a smile before leaving his Pilot to fawn over his wife and explain the situation. Simon, however, was stood staring at his patient, scratching his head and looking beyond lost.

"Somethin' wrong doc?" Mal asked, slightly amused at his expression, although he was pretty certain he already knew its cause.

"That…it can't….Captain, that's impossible! Even if we treated her with a fast acting antidote, she wouldn't regain consciousness for at least a few hours…nothing could bring her round that quickly!"

"Does seem a mite bizarre, that I'll grant you," Mal agreed before turning the Cid in hopes of an explanation.

"What? You've never used potions before? Your doctor reacts like that to an Al Bhed potion then I'm looking forward to someone casting a cure spell nearby." Cid responded, looking half amused and half confused by their reaction to what he clearly thought was normal.

"Casting…wait, hold on one gorram second. You tryin' to get me to believe that there was a _magic_ potion?" Mal asked incredulously.

"I'm not trying to make you believe anything. Evidence is right there in front of your eyes," Cid gestured to where Zoe was now getting easily to her feet, despite Wash's protestations that she should rest a while and Mal's eyes widened further when he saw that the two large gashes on her back seemed to have all but disappeared. Simon next to him was clearly just as speechless, having no medical explanation what so ever for the event. Jayne however seemed impressed by the demonstration of Spira's healing techniques.

"Hey, this mean we don't need the Doc no more?" he asked hopefully, earning himself a warning glare from Mal. River also unsurprisingly was unfased by this apparent _magic._

"Not the only witch on the boat now!" she crowed happily, Simon watching her as she frolicked happily, still entirely dumbstruck. Both he and the Captain were distracted from their confused and astounded reactions, however, by an increase in movement as their 'guests' headed back to the crafts they had arrived on.

"Ajanouha nayto du rayt uid?" Cid called to the other Al Bhed and received a round of answering nods.

"You're people ready to move?" Cid asked of Mal. He nodded, still dumbstruck and wondering once more about the kind of place they'd wound up in.

"Best get them to a speeder or in your…you called it a mule? Time we were leaving. We don't want to be travelling through the desert in the dark."

"Where is it exactly that we're going?" Inara asked tentatively, approaching the men.

"New Home," Cid declared, before seating himself on a speeder. Inara shot Mal a questioning look but he simply shrugged his shoulders. He was almost as lost as she, and to tell the truth a little frightened by this strange new world, although he'd be damned if he showed it. Yet Cid had been trustworthy so far, and the idea of weathering a night in the desert certainly did not appeal. So he motioned for his crew to follow Cid's order and prepare for the off, as he headed for the mule, preferring something he knew to perching behind one of these strange people on a speeder. This was apparently the way River preferred to travel however, her expression gleeful as she took a seat and held on tight, goggles firmly fixed on, and gesturing for Kaylee to do the same. There were many questions floating in Mal's head as he observed the rest of his crew either climbing on the mule or tentatively following River's example, but he resolved to keep being patient. The answers would reveal themselves in time.

XXXOOOOXXX

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review. More to come soon…_

_Translations:_

"_Tu oui y budeuh fedr oui?" - "Do you a potion with you?"_

"_Oac" - "Yes"_

"_Cra'c paah buecuhat, ku cruf dras ruf du veq ran ib. Drao'na yc lmiamacc yc pypeac!" - "She's been poisoned, go show them how to fix her up. They're as clueless as babies!"_

"_Ajanouha nayto du rayt uid?" - "Everyone ready to head out?"_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own Firefly or Final Fantasy._

**Pyreflies**

Leaving Serenity was a wrench for all the members of her crew, her family. Kaylee almost fell from the speeder upon which she was a passenger as she craned her neck round to get one last glimpse of her glinting in the evening sun. Luckily her driver realised and pulled her back on to the craft, gibbering in that funny language, and much as she wanted to Kaylee didn't try to get another look, although she couldn't stop a few tears rolling down her face as she closed her eyes against the harsh desert winds. She hated having to leave her baby behind.

Mal distracted himself from the unease of leaving his ship behind by keeping a watchful eye on his crew. Book, Inara, River and reluctantly the doctor were, like Kaylee, perched on the back of the curious speeder-like craft the Al Bhed were operating. This was partially because of convenience and partially because Mal thought they would be safer there, protected by drivers who obviously knew the terrain, and how to deal with any unfriendly creatures, as well as being stocked with those handy magic potions. Magic…he wasn't sure he was ever going to get over that one, and neither was Simon. From the stiff position the Doctor held, he could tell the young man was not enjoying the experience half as much as his sister appeared to be, but Inara and the Preacher seemed to be doing fine. Reassured that they were all okay he turned his attention back to his miraculously healed first mate and his mercenary in the back, who were busy scouting the bland sandy terrain surrounding them, while Wash controlled the mule. He knew that they, just like him, were alert for signs of the flying bird like creature that had attacked them earlier. He had a hunch that making it mad then escaping hadn't done them any favours. And he was right…

It was the eerie, bone chilling screech they heard first, causing many of their Al Bhed escorts to look around anxiously.

"Sir…" Zoe asked tensely, her Hogleg cocked and ready.

"Sounds like our friend came back for more," he responded searching the skies for the creature. He didn't have to search for long. There were a few cries of "fiend" from the Al Bhed, as the giant monstrosity came into view. Its huge wings looked almost putrid, moulting giant feathers as it beat its way towards them; evil eyes glaring at the end of its over large neck. The convoy of vehicles had come to a standstill as the Al Bhed armed and readied themselves to fight the beast. Grabbing his gun Mal vaulted from the mule, running to join the strangers in their attack.

"Wash, get the women-folk to the mule!" he called to his Pilot over his shoulder as he took a place at Cid's side, gun ready as the creature came into range.

"Now you get to learn how to really deal with fiends!" Cid remarked to him with satisfaction as his men opened fire.

XXXOOOXXX

Wash had successfully located Inara and a petrified Kaylee, pulling them over to hide behind the mule.

"What _Is_ that?" Inara asked, horror struck by the giant monstrosity hovering above the group of travellers, screeching wildly. The shower of bullets it was suffering seemed only to anger it as it began to swoop around them.

"Best not to ask…" Wash replied, trying not to think about it, keeping his mind focused on staying safe rather than the fact that is wife was right now fighting that _thing_. He turned to the mechanic who was staring at the beast with wide eyes.

"Kaylee, where're River and Simon?"

"They…they were over there…" Kaylee pointed towards the abandoned speeders, and Wash craned his neck for a better look.

"Ai ya tien ah!" he exclaimed, spotting Simon accompanied by the shepherd, desperately trying to control his sister who had picked the exact worst time to have an episode.

"Rung tse song di ching dai wuo tzo…so much rage!" the girl was sobbing as she struggled against her brother's restraining arms.

"Got to stop…make it stop…please make it stop!"

"Mei-mei please…" Simon begged as the girl tried to fight him off.

"River, it's going to be all right," the Shepherd tried to soothe her, all the while keeping an anxious eye on the battle being waged not 30 feet from their position.

"Never all right…ripped from life…so angry, so so angry. Don't want to die, don't want to leave, don't want to live. Vengeance and rage bubbling and boiling, can't contain!" she screamed, then with a wrench she broke free from the two men, and to their horror ran straight out into the open…and into the Zu's sights.

"No!" Inara cried in warning, but it was too late. The creature, deeply wounded by its current victims, had caught sight of this easier target. As it wheeled around in pursuit of the girl Mal saw what had happened, his eyes on River, exposed and vulnerable staring wide eyed at the foul beast charging towards her.

"Ta ma duh!" he gasped, then, desiring drastic action he ordered, "Jayne, grenade!"

At the same time Cid called to one of his men, "Knahyta!" and both delegates let their charges fly.

The two explosives hit the creature's back in mid swoop, the resulting blast enough to knock the closest people backwards and sending River sprawling on her back. It did the intended though as the monstrosity dropped out of the sky a few feet from the girl, stone dead. Jayne crowed in triumph, the thrill of battle still pumping through his veins, as Mal and the doctor ran to check on the girl lying motionless next to the beast.

XXXOOOXXX

"You blew her up!" Simon yelled indignantly at the captain as he urgently examined his sister. Mal started in surprise at his accusation.

"You rather I let that thing eat her instead?!" he asked incredulously, "You were the one who let her run out in front of it in the first place!"

The younger man scowled at the Captain, choosing not to answer and instead continuing to frantically examine the limp girl lying on the floor.

"River…mei-mei…can you hear me?" he called to her, checking her pulse and pulling back her eyelids.

"Is she alright?" Inara asked in concern as the others joined them.

"She's alive…." Simon began, glaring once more at the Captain. When he turned back to his sister's supposedly unconscious form, however, he jumped in shock to see her wide eyes staring back at him.

"River…how do you feel?" he asked, relieved that she was conscious but still wary of any possible injuries from the blast. He was also all too aware of the episode she had been having before she was knocked of her feet, and was bracing himself for its return. Instead of a scream however he was treated to a serene smile as she sat bolt upright.

"Peaceful release," she declared, gaining confused looks from the captain and her brother until she pointed behind them at the dead monster.

"Look," She commanded, staring past them, still with the smile on her face as she continued in an almost melodic voice, "time to go, far away, to the place of flowers and waterfalls."

The crew who had gathered round her were completely nonplussed as to what she meant but curiosity dictated that they follow her gaze to be presented with the strangest sight they had ever laid eyes upon.

The black mass of feathers that was the creature they had slain appeared to be evaporating before their very eyes as small blueish-green orbs of light floated lazily upwards from its disappearing carcass. Kaylee, already unnerved by the fight, grasped tightly onto Simon's arm as she took in the vision.

"What the ruttin' hell? That ain't right!" Jayne gasped at the spectacle, unconsciously shifting Vera's weight in his arms into a more defensive stature.

"What are they? Those lights…they're so beautiful…" Kaylee said in a hushed tone as they all watched their lazy dance in awe. Cid approached the bemused group.

"Pyreflies. The souls of the dead."

"People? Those are _dead people_ floating around there?" Wash asked in a weak voice, as Kaylee's expression of wonder turned to horror, and the muscles around Zoe's jaw tightened.

"That's what makes a fiend, the souls of the dead wreaking vengeance on the living." Cid responded in a morose tone.

"Spira's seen a lot of death, so we have a lot of fiends. You can thank Sin for that."

Mal stared at him blankly, not even asking what Sin was supposed to mean to a group that furiously denied religion; he was too busy digesting this latest gem of information about how this planet worked. First it had been magic, now the souls of the dead were trying to kill people? This world was beyond comprehension. His crew looked equally dumbstruck as the last of the "pyreflies" floated away, leaving no trace of the beast they had brought down. Jayne stared moodily at the now empty patch of sand and Mal distinctly heard him mutter, "Ain't right," as he was the first to turn away and head back to the mule, still clutching Vera as if she would offer him some protection from the troubling thoughts running through all of their heads. River was still smiling in an eerie way, and Mal was glad when the Doctor turned back to check on her, using her brief unconsciousness to distract himself from the troubling spectacle they had just witnessed. The girl's happy expression was more than a mite creepifying, and Mal was concerned as to how at ease she was with the events of the day. It seemed typical that she would be apparently at ease when everything around her was completely alien to the rest of them. Turning away from her, Mal's eyes instead came to rest upon the preacher who seemed to be the most unsettled of them all. He appeared to have an almost vice like grip on his small leather bound bible and was staring unblinkingly at the sky, a taught look on his face. Mal recognised the symptoms all to well. There had once been a time when his faith had taken a battering, confronted with a huge obstacle. In his case his faith had lost the battle against its challenges. For once Mal felt pity for the shepherd; what they had just seen must have been a huge blow to the faith of a man whose whole current life revolved around his belief in the Christian way. Inara followed Mal's gaze, and her companion instincts instantly told her what the problem was. Mal was relieved to see her go over to stand by the grey haired man and engage him in quiet conversation. The preacher was in need of comfort and he was damn sure Inara would handle it a whole lot better than he ever could.

XXXOOOXXX

"We better get a move on," Cid told the group now, disturbing their silent musings. "New home's not far, we'll be there by nightfall."

Quietly the group took up their positions on the vehicles again, glad at least that they would soon reach safety and shelter. Mal had imagined New Home to be a village of sorts, perhaps a small settlement based around a desert oasis; a hamlet. It was yet another surprise then, when they topped a sandy dune to be confronted with what looked like a giant metal structure, somewhat resembling a half opened flower. The construction seemed to still be in progress, surrounded as it was by an amount of scaffolding and a veritable city of tented buildings, but it was an awe inspiring sight; such a huge structure in the middle of a barren wasteland.

"Hell, that thing looks like an alliance buildin'," commented Jayne suspiciously as they approached.

"Sure is imposing," Mal agreed, "but I'm thinking we've left the alliance as far behind us as everything else in the verse. 'Bout the only thing that's good about this whole world."

Wash, however, was distracted by something other than the feat of engineering before their eyes.

"I want to drive one of _those!_" he exclaimed in excitement, pointing to some sort of vehicle that appeared to be powered by a huge fan attached to the back.

"Zoe, you think I could drive one of those?"

The mercenary woman smiled despite herself at her excited husband.

"Wash, honey, you can drive anything you like if you just concentrate on getting us there in one piece," she remarked as he accidentally took them into the side of a small dune due to his diverted attention, showering them all with sand.

"Seems we may have underestimated these people somewhat," Mal remarked, his eyes still fixed on the glistening superstructure ahead.

"When you say we…" Zoe spoke, raising an eyebrow at her captain in amusement.

"You tellin' me you expected to see this?!" Mal asked her in disbelief.

"No, but I didn't compare them to hill folk on Jiangyin either." She smirked slightly, reminding the captain of his earlier lapse of judgement. Mal looked flabbergasted.

"But you…" he didn't understand how his first mate knew about a conversation that she'd been unconscious for, until he saw Wash's suppressed smile and slight blush.

"Sorry captain. She wanted to know _everything_. I had to tell her!"

"'sides Mal, it's a good story. Should' a seen your face," Jayne smirked at the captain, happy to have the high ground over his boss for once. Before Mal had the chance to come up with some form of retaliation, however, the mule pulled up behind the speeders at the edge of the tent city. Kaylee came bounding over; looking the happiest that she had been since the crash. The sight of the mechanical masterpiece before her had obviously improved her mood drastically.

"Have you seen this place?! It's so shiny!" she beamed at them. "I bet they got all sorts'a bits and pieces we can use to fix up serenity!"

The rest of the crew came to join them, Simon apparently having some difficulty guiding River who was staring around, wide eyed.

"She ok?" Mal asked the young man, noticing the girls distracted temperament.

"She seems calm at least," he replied with a slight sigh, "there are just a lot of people here, I think it makes it hard for her to concentrate."

"Well, see you keep an eye on her," Mal responded, giving an unnecessary order, "best she doesn't go wanderin' off round here."

"So what do you think?" Cid asked proudly as he approached them, gesturing towards New Home.

"Sure is somethin'" Mal stated, smiling in a constricted way, at the man before him. He still seemed trustworthy, but the events with the Zu had made Mal even more determined to start getting answers from him regarding Spira.

"Course we'll have to put you up in tents for the time being, at least until we can get your ship here. Things aren't quite ready inside. The Machina still has a few glitches."

"Y'mean machines right?" Kaylee asked, slightly timidly, but her eyes belying her intense curiosity about the construction. If anything was likely to keep Kaylee happy it was the promise of a shiny new machine to play with.

"We call 'em machina normally, but yeah that's what I mean. You understand 'em?" The older man asked her, eyeing her thoughtfully as he remembered her angered outburst on Serenity.

"Our Kaylee's the best mechanic in the 'verse," Mal answered, complimenting his mei-mei and being rewarded for it with a glowing smile from the brunette.

"Hmm maybe you could help us out around here. What d'you say?"

The girl turned to look at her captain excitedly, and he knew he couldn't argue with that face. Besides, helping to work on New Home could buy them some extra brownie points and a better chance of figuring out how Spira worked and how to get out of here.

"It can't hurt," Mal agreed, "although if I'm lending you my mechanic perhaps you can get around to tellin' us some of that history you were talking about. Me and mine seen some pretty strange things today, and we could do with some answers."

Cid grunted at him.

"I guess you need filling in before you go upsetting people or getting yourself killed. I'm not the best teacher mind, but I'll tell you what I know. Follow me."

The group followed the man through the canvas jungle, until they reached a large empty tent in the centre, strewn with makeshift seats and boxes.

"Welcome to headquarters," Cid spoke in an offhand manner, "we best go through to my office. We won't be disturbed there." He walked along a canvas corridor and Mal went to follow him before he was called back by Shepherd Book.

"Captain, mightn't it be best if we stay here? Seems it might be prudent if you get the whole truth without any distractions."

Mal looked around his crew, and their weary faces. He also saw River still looking wild eyed and he recognised that she was barely holding herself together against the activity going on all around them. He nodded towards the grey haired man.

"Preacher's right. Y'all get some rest. I'll tell you everything when I get back."

And with that he followed Cid, leaving his crew to finally relax in the various seats and crates situated around the very sparse headquarters, watching the Al Bhed come and go as they went about their daily business.

XXXOOOXXX

It had gone dark, and it seemed that hours had passed before Mal re-emerged, looking pale and shaken.

"Mal?" Inara asked, coming towards him, as the rest of the crew got to their feet. "What did he tell you?"

"Y'ain't gonna like it," Mal replied, "place is a hell of a lot gorram weirder than we thought."

"Y'think?" Jayne responded sarcastically, impatient to hear some answers and earning a glare from Zoe.

"We need to know Mal," Inara spoke gently, trying to hide her impatience. An argument between them now wouldn't help their situation at all. Mal nodded

"S'right, you do," he sighed. "Y'all sitting comfortably?" he remarked with bitter sarcasm before he started to retell the story he had just been told himself.

He told them of how Spira was once full of technology, like the core worlds, and of the war that had sprung up because of it. He told them how a man called Yu Yevon from a place called Zanarkand created a thing, a weapon, called Sin, a creature whose sole purpose was to kill and destroy. He spoke of how Sin helped to end the war, but did so by destroying on both sides, including the destruction of Zanarkand. They listened as he described the only way to kill Sin; through summoners who worshipped the religion of Yevon summoning huge powerful beings called Aeons, and completing a pilgrimage. The culmination of this pilgrimage involved the calling the final Aeon that would defeat Sin but in doing so kill the summoner. They were horrified when he explained that the sacrifice was all in vain, that Sin would always return and kill again. He told them of Yevon, the corrupt religion that supported this cycle of endless pilgrimages. It was Yevon, he said, that banished machines, or machina, blaming them for Sin, and that turned the Al Bhed into hated heathens, hunting them for their continued use of machines and their unwillingness to follow Yevon.

Then he told them about how one summoner took a chance, and tried to do things differently. How she, Cid's niece, accompanied by her friends including Cid's daughter, killed Sin for good, but lost the one she loved. The story was bittersweet but as Inara tried to speak Mal cut her off, as he went on to describe the next chapter in the story. He told them how the high summoner, vanquisher of Sin, battled again, Cid's daughter and another by her side, against a dead man, an "unsent", who tried to unleash another weapon on the world. And how as a reward she was reunited with her love.

XXXOOOXXX

"That's such a beautiful story," sighed Kaylee as Mal finally finished.

"Is that it? A rutting fairytale?" Jayne asked, his face contorted in disgust. "Gorram it Mal, I thought we was lookin' for answers!"

"We were. That's what we got Jayne. Deal with it," Mal answered tersely.

"It don't make no sense!" the mercenary replied, raising his voice.

"Mythical beasts and magic and the dead? You outta your gorram mind! You're makin' less sense than moon brain!"

"How much of what we've seen does make sense Jayne?" Zoe asked, challenging the man with her eyes. "Things are different here, that's a fact we just have to get used to."

"You ain't fallin' for it too? Damn it Zoe, thought you had more brains than that."

"It does seem a little far fetched…" Simon began tentatively, hating himself for siding with Jayne.

"And yet we've seen this stuff happening right in front of our eyes!" Mal retorted heatedly.

"So we're going to believe what he had to say?" Inara asked now, giving Mal that piercing look she seemed to reserve just for him.

"Don't see that we got a choice. At least it sheds light on some of the stuff li'l Albatross here was talking about. We're going to have to play along with it all for a while."

The young girl smiled at him from her position on the floor, seeming calmer now than she had been.

"Do as the Romans do," she remarked appraisingly towards her Captain.

"Mal it can't be true," Jayne said, his voice now sounding less threatening and almost more pleading, which was unusual for the big man.

"It just can't be."

"Wish I could say it wasn't," Mal replied steadily, "Maybe I'll wake up in the morning and this'll all be some crazy dream. But until then, I'm gonna do what I can to make sure we stay alive and out of trouble, and right now that means we turn in. Tomorrow's like to be just as long as today."

One by one the group left, heading towards the tents that had been set up for them, until just Jayne and River were left, Jayne staring after them all in disbelief

"They're all just gonna lay down and believe that ri shao gou shi bing," he murmured aggressively, more to himself than to the girl although she still responded.

"Truth is a difficult pill," she remarked sagely, "not so strange, ape man. Guns still shoot, crime still pays. Don't be scared." She smiled then slipped around him and out of the tent. She wanted to get to the tent before her brother. She wanted the comfy bed.

"Didn't say nothin' 'bout bein' scared," Jayne grumbled, refusing to admit the comfort her words had brought him as he also headed out into the desert night.

XXXOOOXXX

It seemed to Mal like he had only just closed his eyes when suddenly the sun was shining onto them again. Too used to sleeping in his windowless bunk, the natural brightness seemed ridiculously overpowering. He groaned, and turned over; hoping to avoid the glare, but the sound disturbed the young girl who was sitting on the floor of the tent, lazily tossing a colourful orb into the air.

"Ooo you're finally awake!" she exclaimed happily quickly scrambling to her feet. At the sound of her voice Mal sat bolt upright, reaching for his gun, as he stared at her in shock. She pushed long golden braids out of her face as she smiled cheerily at him. She couldn't have been any older than River although, Mal noticed, she wore significantly less clothes, dressed as she was in a bikini top and mini skirt. Shaking his dazed and sleepy eyes away from her attire Mal approached the more important question.

"Who the ruttin' hell are you and what you doin' in my tent?!" he demanded, trying to be threatening although he was half clothed and in bed.

"You're a grumpy one," she commented, frowning before smiling once more, completely unfazed by his attempted scariness.

"Sorry if I woke you, but when Vydran told me about the spaceship, I just had to come and find out about it! My name's Rikku, nice to meet ya!"

She waved slightly at him, and the way she kept smiling reminded him strongly of Kaylee's cheerfulness. Two Kaylee's both getting excited over mechanical bits and pieces on his boat… He groaned and pulled the covers up over his head. Today was going to be a loooooooooong day.

XXXOOOXXX

_Hope you enjoyed it, please review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer:**__I don't own Firefly or Final Fantasy_

_Sorry for the delay! Here is chapter five._

**Rikku**

The Al Bhed camp was a hive of activity. Apparently these people were early risers as by the time Zoe and Wash emerged from their tent it seemed that they had been at work for hours, most tinkering with some machine or other. Wash looked at all the activity with a smile.

"Ready for another exciting adventure, sweet cakes?" he asked his wife with a wide grin. She groaned slightly.

"Haven't we had enough of those for a while?"

"But just think! Maybe next time I could be your knight in shining armour and rescue you for a change. Place like this, there might even be dinosaurs!"

He looked positively gleeful at the prospect, and Zoe had to laugh at his ability to be so enthusiastic about the possibilities of this strange world.

"I wouldn't get too excited honey," she pacified him as they headed through the tent city towards the other crew members' quarters.

"Captain'll wanna get off this rock as soon as we're space worthy."

"Aw but we could have so much _fun_. And I still want to try those hover-plane-thingys!" She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face her husband, not willing to chase the subject of prolonging their stay any further.

"This place isn't _fun_ Wash. Magic and things? This place ain't right. It bothers me."

He was sorely tempted to remind her of the last time something had bothered her, but decided against it. Zoe was unsettled, and had a tendency to be a mite less understanding when she was being terse and wary. It was part of the whole warrior woman thing he loved so much.

As they rounded a corner they came across Kaylee who seemed to be engrossed in fiddling with a strange looking machine.

"Having fun?" Zoe asked, her raised eyebrow expressing her amusement at the girl's almost magnetic attraction to anything vaguely mechanical.

"Hey!" she smiled at them before turning back to the strange technology.

"Everything's just shiny…'cept I can't figure out how this bit works…" She waved an oily piece of metal at them. "Seems like it should be connected to the pneumatics, but I can't figure out how…"

She stood up, brushing her greasy hands across her overalls.

"You two goin' to see the Cap'n?"

"That's the notion," Zoe agreed.

"I guess it's about time someone roused him from his beauty sleep," Inara added, coming to join them having just emerged from her own tent.

"Hey 'Nara!" Kaylee grinned at the companion, receiving a warm smile in response.

"You look busy," the older woman commented.

"It can wait, I wanna come with y'all."

Inara nodded her head before turning back to Zoe.

"Shall we?"

XXXOOOXXX

They took only a few steps towards Mal's tent, before they were halted in their tracks as a young, blonde, scantily clad woman came flying out of it, landing on her knees in the sand.

"Hey! What was that for? You big meanie!" She yelled towards the tent, and presumably Mal who was still inside. She picked herself up with a groan and dusted of her knees, before straightening up and catching sight of the group who were stood staring at her open mouthed.

"Oh…um hi!" she giggled, understandably nervous under the questioning gazes of Inara and Zoe.

"You must be friends of grumpy-butt in there! The name's Rikku, nice to meet you!"

Kaylee and Wash both had to stifle laughs at this, rather accurate, description of their captain, and both Inara and Zoe's expressions softened somewhat.

"We're his crew," Zoe replied, not betraying her amusement in her firm tone.

"Zoe?" The captain's voice came from inside the tent.

"Sir?"

"That crazy girl still out there?"

"Who're you calling crazy?" Rikku retorted angrily, storming back towards the tent, as if to try and retaliate but she was halted as the captain emerged, arms folded and jaw set.

"You woke me up!" he justified, "By jumping on my bed!"

Inara's look was once more stony, this time directed towards Mal, whilst Wash tried determinedly not to catch Kaylee's laughing eye.

"That's not true! I only jumped on you _after_ I woke you up! You tried to ignore me!"

As Kaylee fell about laughing, and Inara's expression became frost ridden, Jayne appeared, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. On seeing the sight before him he froze, eyes darting from the rather beautiful young girl, to the confused and angry captain, the frosty companion, and the pilot and mechanic who were both trying to stop laughing while Zoe's lips twitched towards a smile. His mind jumped to the only conclusion that seemed logical to him.

"Ta Ma Duh, Mal get himself _another_ wife?!"

"What?! Why would I marry him?" Rikku asked in aggravated confusion, "He just threw me out of his tent!"

"Hell, I wouldn't throw you outta my tent…" Jayne grinned, getting a better look at the girl's lithe and exposed figure.

"Jayne…" Zoe warned the mercenary eyeing him dangerously.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it…" he responded, putting his eyes back inside his head and losing the smirk. The girl wasn't worth getting Zoe mad at him, that woman could be down right intimidating when she wanted to be.

"So, what we still haven't established is what…Rikku…was doing in your tent in the first place," Inara spoke to Mal, an edge to her voice as she waited for his answer. It wasn't he who spoke however.

"Vydran told me about the spaceship. I wanted to be the first to see inside it, so I figured I'd come talk to him. I didn't expect him to be so grumpy about it!" Rikku replied to the intimidatingly beautiful woman in front of her. She could tell she had missed something here, what with all this talk of wives and the look the woman was giving the captain, and she was anxious to set the record straight. It seemed to have done the trick as the woman smiled at her now.

"I wouldn't worry dear. Grumpiness is his natural state of mind."

Mal was still confused and irritated by his rude awakening by this Rikku girl. He also didn't like the way that his crew was having a good laugh at his expense. He wasn't grumpy! He was sure that, given the chance, he would have been able to resolve the situation in a way that made him seem captainy, and would make Inara stop being angry with him for something that wasn't his fault. Unfortunately, however, he was denied the opportunity by the appearance of Cid.

"There you are!" he bellowed on approaching the group. "Thought I told you to leave them in peace Rikku!" he admonished the girl who now had her head bowed, pointing her toes into the dust.

"Cunno Vydran," she said smiling at him hopefully, as if trying to get of the hook. Mal looked from Cid to Rikku as things clicked in his head.

"Wait…you're Cid's girl?" he asked the blonde. She turned to face him, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"I have a name!" She responded hotly. Mal looked confused, not sure what exactly he had done wrong this time. Cid, however, ignored the exchange and turned to Mal.

"I came to let you know. The Celsius is inbound with your ship."

"Serenity?" Kaylee asked, excited to see her girl again so soon.

At the same time Rikku squealed, "Ooo it's nearly here!"

The two girls looked at each other and smiled brightly. Cid, his attention caught by Kaylee's question looked at the mechanic, spying the oily machine part she still held. He grinned at her, impressed.

"Seems you're already helping us rebuild."

She shrugged at him, blushing slightly.

"If I see a machine needs mendin' I can't help myself. I can't figure out where this bit goes though…"

"I can show you, if you like?" Rikku offered cheerfully, "Or at least I think I can…"

Within minutes the two were knelt by the machine, heads buried deep in its inner workings, trying to solve the mechanical mystery. Mal smiled at the pair, relieved that the girl had stopped tormenting him, before turning to the rest of the group and Cid.

"Well, now those two are happy, what's this about my ship?"

"We're bringing her in. She'll be easier to fix up if she's closer to camp."

"But how exactly? Last time I checked she wasn't exactly flight worthy. Do you even know how to fly her?" Wash asked, concerned that these people may inadvertently damage further the ship he loved.

"Ha!" laughed Cid, "'course we aren't flying her boy! We're carrying her. Fixed her up to one of our biggest airships. She'll be here in about 15 minutes."

The man walked off still chuckling to himself. Mal watched him, looking slightly concerned before shaking himself out of it and reverting to captain mode. Thankfully his crew had been diverted from his original embarrassment and so he was able to gain control of the situation effectively.

"All right! Jayne, you go see if you can't find the Shepherd, Simon and River. Get them to meet us just beyond the tents. The rest of us will head over there. Kaylee…"

"Shiny, Cap'n," the brunette waved a hand distractedly in his direction, not even bothering to remove her head from the machine, "I'll be right behind ya…"

Knowing there was no way to pry her away now she had someone to explain the machine to her, Mal shrugged and left his mechanic to it. After all, she was just as anxious to see Serenity. She'd be there in time.

XXXOOOXXX

"Y'see this bit fits riiiight…here!" Rikku fixed the part into place triumphantly.

"But don't that mess up the drive feed? Put it there it'll send the balance right off, thing won't run straight. But if you reconnect the compression coil to here…it'll clear it straight up. Or at least it should do."

"Hey, that's right!" the blonde exclaimed, reassessing the machines innards, "that'd stop it whirring and clanking all the time!"

"Uh-huh, it'll run longer too…" Kaylee agreed, smiling at her new friend.

"The two suns shine brightly together," a voice remarked happily from behind them.

"Oh, hey sweetie," Kaylee smiled at River, removing her head from the machine and gazing around hopefully.

"Is Simon with you?"

River rolled her eyes theatrically.

"He runs around, clucking like a chicken. It makes it easy for the chick to get away."

"Huh…sounds like Simon," Kaylee remarked with amusement, "River, you met Rikku?" The blonde smiled and waved at the girl enthusiastically and River smiled back just as widely.

"So, what do you do on the ship?" Rikku asked curiously. There seemed to be a large amount of crew with this spaceship, and yet it was small enough for the Celsius to carry it and she wondered why they needed quite so many people, when the Celsius could be driven by just two. River pondered the question for a while.

"I am the Albatross. The Captain's lucky charm."

"Lucky, huh? Sounds useful!" Rikku responded with a smile.

"Sure is," Kaylee beamed at the young girl, "'course our genius here also likes to make her brother and the Captain feel stupid!"

"They make it so easy," River remarked, dead panned, causing both of her companions to giggle.

"So how many of you are there?" Rikku asked curiously. Kaylee began counting on her fingers.

"Well lets see there's me and River here, and the Cap'n of course. Then there's Zoe, the first mate, she was the one with the gun; Inara the companion who rents a shuttle, the one in the beautiful dress…"

"What's a companion?" Rikku asked curiously.

"Hmmm, you probably best ask Inara that," Kaylee replied, not sure quite how to describe the companions role.

"Okay, I will, what about the big guy?"

"Ape man" River explained and Kaylee laughed.

"River! That was Jayne, he's our mercenary, hence the guns. And the shorter guy next to him was Wash, Zoe's husband and our Pilot. Then there's the Shepherd, he's officially a passenger, but he's really our cook, and then Simon, River's brother, the doctor."

"Wow there really is a lot of you!"

"Family," River stated smiling, "family who worries. We should go. The big bird is bringing mother home."

Neither of the girls could mistake River's meaning and they exchanged excited grins, before scrambling to their feet and heading towards the rendezvous to greet Serenity.

XXXOOOXXX

"River! There you are!" exclaimed Simon as the girls approached Cid and the rest of the crew.

"Told you she'd turn up!" grumbled Jayne as the captain and Inara both relaxed significantly upon her appearance, and her brother began to fuss over her. It seemed that River had predicted correctly and they had been quite worried about her. River looked up at her big brother with compassionate exasperation.

"Mind may be confused but it still thinks. The world is clear today, so there's no need to cluck so much. It's noisy."

"River, I…" Simon looked at his sister in confusion.

"I think she means you worry too much," Rikku laughed, seemingly unperturbed by River's choice of words. River smiled back at her, gratefully. It was so nice to be around another mind as sunny as Kaylee's. One that accepted rather than questioned her sanity. Somehow the positivity exuded by the two helped her thoughts to run more smoothly.

Simon, however, still looked like he wanted to cluck some more and so she was grateful when she heard the low throb of engines approaching.

"Serenity!" she announced, pointing westward towards the sky line. Everyone turned to look and there were many gasps as they caught sight of the spectacle in the sky. Coming towards them was a huge, magnificent red ship seemingly powered by motors in two arms stretched out alongside the long nose. It seemed to move effortlessly through the air towards them, and there, suspended carefully below it, was the rather battered looking Serenity. Wash was struck by how forlorn the ship looked; hanging battered and dented underneath the behemoth, but it was excitement about the larger ship that he vocalised first.

"I changed my mind!" he yelled over the engines roar to his wife, "I want to fly that!"

The giant ship came to a halt hovering high above them, then gently descended allowing Serenity to lightly touch down on the hot Bikanel sands. As soon as she landed a hoard of Al Bhed rushed forwards to release the cables that had held her in the sky.

"That really is one hell of a ship you got there," Mal complimented Cid, his eyes still on the gleaming Celsius which, having been unattached, was now landing beside Serenity. It was a fine looking ship, and yet Mal knew that he would trade it in any day for Serenity.

"Mal can we go see the pretty ship? Please?" Wash asked the Captain as his wife rolled her eyes. She really couldn't understand how this strange planet was making her husband more childlike than usual. To her, it was an absolute nightmare!

"Na-ah, we get to see yours first!" Rikku exclaimed, deciding she would get to like Wash. Anyone that called her ship pretty was instantly in her good books.

"It seems there are some new arrivals, Captain," the Shepherd announced, attracting everyone's attention. Rikku followed his gaze towards the Celsius whose doors had just opened. She jumped up and waved frantically to the young couple who emerged from the ships belly.

"The saviour and her knight," River said softly and Rikku looked at her puzzled stopping her waving with her arm still suspended in the air. She didn't think that this group was supposed to know anything about Spira, and yet this girl had instantly recognised Yuna.

"Yeah…but don't say that to Yunie okay?" She said in a kind way, "that hero worship stuff always makes her all uncomfy."

River nodded, all the while staring at the couple who were approaching.

"She doesn't want to be different. Just a normal girl." She remarked with understanding, and her brother looked at her with slight concern and sadness before turning back to watch the young couple. They certainly were an interesting sight. Jayne looked like he could hardly believe his luck as the girl appeared to be dressed almost as sparingly as Rikku.

"Girls've really gotta start putting more clothes on round here," mumbled the captain, earning him a scowl from Inara. The girl's companion, a handsome muscled blonde, was also strangely dressed in uneven shorts and what looked like a hooded top.

As the pair reached them, smiling broadly, Rikku stepped in to introduce the pair.

"Everyone this is my cousin Yunie…Yuna, and this is Tidus. You two, this is Captain Meanie and his crew."

"Hey!" protested Mal, "I thought we were over the whole meanie thing?!"

Yuna giggled at this and Mal turned to her, trying to be respectful.

"Miss Yuna? The name's Reynolds, Captain Malcolm Reynolds. You the Yuna we been hearing all these stories about?"

Yuna blushed at this, as Inara frowned at him for doing exactly what Rikku had warned against.

"Um, I guess…" the girl replied shyly, and her companion put a gloved hand on her shoulder for support. Inara stepped in to rescue the situation from Mal's bumbling…again. She smiled broadly at the pair.

"I apologise for him, we've just heard an awful lot in the last twenty four hours and he's having difficulty adjusting to it all. It really is lovely to meet you."

"So, did you really come from space?" Tidus asked curiously.

"Sure as hell ain't from round here" Jayne responded gruffly.

"So you really don't know anything about Spira?!" Yuna asked, wide-eyed.

"Only what we've learnt since we landed yesterday," ventured the Captain, "things have been a mite…different since then."

"Spira's a pretty strange place to get used to." Tidus sympathised, "We can try and help you out as much as we can though. I had to get used to everything just the same as you once. It gets easier."

"I'm hoping we wont have to," responded the Captain, being blunt as usual. This time it was Kaylee who attempted to rectify his verbal faux pas.

"Still, can't help to know more, can it?" she smiled at the captain beseechingly.

"Enough talking already! I wanna see the spaceship!" Rikku complained, bored with the introductions and anxious to see inside the silver ship. It may be dented and battered, but she could still sense its magic, like those who lived on her, and she couldn't wait any longer to go and explore. Yuna smiled at her impetuous cousin before phrasing her request in a more diplomatic way.

"Captain, may we see your ship?" she asked politely, hands behind her back as she smiled brightly at him. He was reminded heavily of Kaylee when she wanted something, and he knew he couldn't refuse.

"Well Kaylee? You ready to show our guests round our girl?"

"You bet!" she smiled, following her captain as he led them all back home.

XXXOOOXXX

_Hope you enjoyed! Please Review._


	6. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own Final Fantasy or Firefly_

**Crazy Talk**

Being back on Serenity was reassuring for all of them. If they closed the doors and avoided the windows they could almost pretend that they were still in the black, and had never set foot in this crazy world. Of course, Mal reflected, at least they had landed on their feet regarding their rescuers. The Al Bhed were carefully examining the bridge, and Cid had even provided a translator so that they could converse with Wash regarding the navigational instruments.

"They really seem to know their stuff," Wash enthused to his captain, "it's like having fifteen Kaylee's fixing the bridge except less cheerful and with goggles!"

"Well an army of Kaylee's is certainly what we're needing. You okay managing this?"

"Not much managing to do. I'm tempted to just sit back and let them work."

"Well keep me informed," Mal responded before heading off the bridge.

XXXOOOXXX

At the other end of the ship Kaylee was proudly showing off the engine to Cid and Rikku.

"She ain't too healthy now, but when she's moving she's the best ship in the 'verse!"

"She really is something," Cid remarked, crouched beside the central turbine and examining the mess of wires. "So which systems does she use to get into space?"

"Well there's the grav boot, life support, main thrusters…hell most of what you see we couldn't get out of atmo without."

"Some of these parts look a little…old" remarked Rikku, already on her back fiddling with a pair of rusted couplings.

"You could say that," Kaylee agreed, "I keep asking Cap'n for new parts, but when money's tight…well you just gotta make do with whatever luh suh you got lying around."

"You and Rikku should make a shopping list. Tell us what you need to get her running; I'll see what I can do." Cid remarked. Kaylee looked like all her Christmases had come at once.

"Shiny. I'll get right on it!"

Cid smirked, leaving the girls to work and heading out of the engine room. He couldn't help marvelling at the fact that this rust bucket could get into space. It was clear that the ship had a soul though. It seemed to be a living creature almost, with all its own quirks and details that stuck out to his experienced eyes. He smiled with satisfaction as he walked through the ship which was teeming with Al Bhed, slowly pounding the dents out of Serenity. As he reached the mess he came across the Captain who seemed slightly overwhelmed by the hoards of people crawling all over his ship.

"This ship's pretty special," Cid complemented Mal.

"That she is," the Captain agreed, his eyes following an Al Bhed figure who was calibrating the mess hall's environmental controls.

"You're people sure are…efficient."

"Machina is the passion of the Al Bhed. They all jumped at the chance to fix up a real space ship."

"Well I guess I should be grateful for that. So any idea how long it'll take?"

"We're still assessing the damage. Your mechanic's the only one with a full knowledge of how this girl runs. It might take a while."

The captain nodded his agreement then made his excuses. Grateful as he was, he was still very uncomfortable with the notion of all these strangers on his ship. He was desperate to find some area of solitude where he could escape the confusion and hubbub that had invaded Serenity.

XXXOOOXXX

Tidus, when exploring the intriguing ship, had been stopped dead in his tracks when he spied the clinically white infirmary, filled with shiny metal instruments.

"This is incredible!" he gasped, "it's just like the sanatoriums in Zanarkand, just a lot smaller."

"What…is this place?" Yuna asked uncertainly, unsettled by the sharp tools and bright electric lights.

"It's the infirmary," Simon answered, looking puzzled as he entered behind her.

"Surely you've seen an infirmary before?"

"They don't need them here. Magic and potions make illness and recovery simpler. You either live…or you die. There's no medicinal way of changing that here." Tidus supplied for him, his knowledge of pre-war Zanarkand supplying some of the gaps between a modern technological age and their current magic orientated surroundings.

"But…surely when people get shot or injured there's not always a "magic" solution."

Tidus' look confirmed the doctor's suspicions and he leant on the nearest counter for support as he imagined a world without medicine.

"But magic…it isn't logical. There's no scientific explanation…"

"Does there have to be?" Yuna asked, looking at the doctor with some confusion, although also with sympathy. She could tell that he was finding the curiosities of her world particularly difficult to deal with, even if she did not quite understand why.

"I'm sorry…I just find the idea of a magical cure so hard to grasp. My whole life has been devoted to medicine…you're world is a lot to adjust too."

"Well what do you do, when someone is injured?" Yuna asked curious about what she saw as his brand of healing magic.

"Generally I try to stop any bleeding and medicate the patient to stop the pain and then it's a case of time and waiting for it to heal. Sometimes an operation is necessary – if there is a bullet or internal bleeding for example."

"Operate?"

"He means he would open the person up to remove the bullet or fix the problem from the inside," Tidus supplied, having a vague familiarity with the concept.

"You cut people open?!!" Yuna asked, looking deeply shocked.

"Sometimes it's necessary…It's all safe…I can't believe you don't have them here…" Simon was equally shell shocked, struggling to come to terms with the revelations about the world's non existent health care.

"It sounds so…brutal."

"I guess it would. But if it wasn't for surgery half the people on this ship wouldn't be alive. Especially not the captain," Simon offered, attempting in his slightly haphazard way to reassure her. He could at least grasp that the prospect of cutting someone open could be considered barbaric to those who were unfamiliar with it.

"Your ways of treating the injured are so different compared to mine." The brunette agreed, before smiling at the young doctor who was still looking a little dumbfounded. "I think that perhaps we have a lot to learn from each other."

He smiled back, recognising her attempts to help him adjust better by helping him understand things.

"I would like that very much, it would be very interesting." He relished the opportunity to apply science to the oddities he had witnessed so far, a chance to rationalise everything. Particularly he wanted a chance to examine these 'magic' potions, to do an analysis and perhaps understand what it was about them that worked. He smiled broadly at the young couple in front of him.

"I would really like the opportunity to learn from you," he reiterated. Aside from his interest in learning more about this world, he was also exceedingly proud to have met people so different from himself and to have not insulted them. He was really learning!

XXXOOOXXX

River had thought today was a good day, one where she understood and could think rationally. As always her mind had betrayed her. As soon as she reached Serenity she had felt secure, knowing what lay inside those doors. But it was wrong, all wrong. So many people, thinking so loudly. All muddled, things in the wrong places. Chaos. As the unspoken voices got louder her surroundings became fluid, the noises drowning out Serenity's reassuring peace. The holes in Serenity's damaged body gaped more and more as the voices forced their way out, and River felt the pain of the ship, the tension of it's crew and the uncertainty of the Al Bhed, all battering her as if she was caught in some sort of emotional turbine. She watched as the ship warped and twisted, stretching her inhabitants, although they couldn't see what was happening to them. She tried to warn them, but couldn't find the words. Her mind twisted what she wanted into nonsense. Not that it mattered they couldn't understand her anyway, they just heard her screams.

Alarmed at her sudden hysteria people tried to help, shadows reaching out to her. But their attention made their thoughts so loud, she felt as though her head was tearing itself in two, besieged by so many voices. She bolted, running towards one of her hiding places, her refuge. But it wasn't right, surrounded by shadows. Melting. Fluid. She had to escape, and she ran for the doors dodging the shadows, aiming for the glistening stable world outside. Figures came at her, shadows of the people they were meant to be. They grasped at her but she fought back, pushing away their restraining arms. She lashed out and felt people fall away. Shadow ape man tried to hold her, but she struck, knocking him back, leaving her free to seek the calm world beyond and freedom.

The world outside Serenity was blissfully quiet and empty, except for the glistening red creature crouched on the sands before her. It had a peace to it, like Serenity and yet it was odd. It seemed so new, and yet its heart spoke to her of its age, years of being broken and forgotten. What's more, inside it were people. Vibrant people in a stable world. The ancient calm and knowledge soothed her, helped her to breathe again, helped her mind to think in a linear way. The glistening hulk promised calm and peace, where her usual solace, Serenity, could not and so she was drawn to it, a moth to a flame, stroking the sides of the red giant until it allowed her access, stepping into its great belly.

XXXOOOXXX

"Captain we have a problem," Zoe called urgently down the ladder to his bunk, where he had retreated to escape the army of engineers who had invaded his ship.

"And everything was going so well too…" he grumbled as he climbed the ladder.

"What's the problem?"

"River's gone. Ran off the ship screaming like a banshee"

"Didn't you stop her?!" he asked, incredulous.

"We tried Sir. Jayne's sat down in the cargo hold with blood pouring outta his forehead 'cause of it. Not to mention a bunch o' these…Al Bhed sporting fresh bruises."

"Ta ma duh. You told Simon?"

"Inara's handling it. You think we should let Cid know?"

"Don't see any way we can't. Ain't gonna find her without him."

The group gathered in the cargo hold as news of River's disappearance spread. Jayne was grumbling as he stemmed the flow of blood coming from a gash on his forehead.

"Feng le girl ought'a get left out there…"

"What? Because a big man like you couldn't get the better of a little girl?" Wash goaded amused despite the situation.

"Take a look funny man," Jayne growled, gesturing to a number of wincing Al Bhed sat around. "That girl's not right."

"She's just disturbed!" Simon protested in his sister's defence, distressed over her disappearance. "Everything is different here; it must have set off an episode. We have to find her!" He turned to the captain now, who till this point had remained stonily quiet.

"Who knows what's out there? We have to find her now, before she gets hurt."

"Leaver her for the monsters I say," Jayne growled, "Better off that way."

"Jayne!" Kaylee admonished, almost as upset as Simon over River's plight.

"She's crew," Mal said firmly, eyeing Jayne warningly before turning to Simon, "And we're gonna find her."

"Do we have any plan yet?" Inara asked hopefully.

"Don't worry pops'll find her," Rikku tried to reassure them.

"We'll help you look too," Yuna offered and Tidus nodded his assent.

"Why did she run off like that anyway?" Tidus asked, confused.

"It's a long story…" Book responded to save Simon the trouble of trying to explain River's unique situation when he was so concerned. He sensed that they would need to know soon but right now finding River was the main priority.

At that moment Cid entered, having just finished radioing other Al Bhed for information. Mal had already filled him in on the situation and he had been very quick in finding out what he could.

"Your girl wouldn't perhaps like dancing and talking in riddles would she?"

"Sounds disturbingly familiar," Mal responded.

"Have you found her?" Simon demanded, alert and anxious.

"I think so. She's on the Celsius."

XXXOOOXXX

If they hadn't been so concerned about River, the group would have been astounded by the glossy interior of the airship they were walking through. A man who introduced himself as Buddy met them at the entrance to the bridge.

"Is she okay?" Simon asked him, not satisfied about his sister's welfare until he could make sure she was all right for himself. The man laughed wryly at his enquiry.

"She seems fine, if a little strange. Its Brother I'm worried about. You might have to rescue him."

To the surprise of Serenity's crew, Rikku groaned at this.

"Situation normal then!" she remarked before stepping through onto the spacious bridge. The scene that met her eyes caused her to sigh even louder.

River was calmly twirling around the room to music that only she could hear apparently oblivious to the shouted protestations of a tall Al Bhed male whose tattooed body was naked to the waist and who sported a strange blonde Mohawk atop his head.

"Kad uvv so creb!! Drec ec so creb lnywo kenm!! Oui sicd mayja! Mayja ic ymuha!!"

"Crid ib!" Shouted Rikku, interrupting his strange screams and attracting the man's attention. His eyes widened at the huge number of people now stood on the bridge.

"Rikku…fru yna draca baubma? Damm dras du ku yfyo!"

"They're here to help, idiot" Rikku retorted in response to his outburst as the crew looked on in confusion and Simon attempted to interrupt his sister's dancing in order to check her over, still not entirely convinced of her well being. Tidus understood the group's confusion.

"That's Brother, Rikku's…well Rikku's brother. He can be a little erratic." He entered into a conspiratorial whisper.

"I'm not entirely sure he's all there…"

"Hey, I not deaf!" Brother shouted at him in broken English. "You invade ship steal my Yuna and now you insult me! You and all these people! You go! Go now!!"

Jayne's hand twitched towards his gun, not at all comfortable with the presence of someone he saw as being almost as unhinged as their own crazy-person, but it was Yuna who diffused the situation.

"You really shouldn't shout at our guests Brother," Yuna smiled kindly at the man. As his eyes fell on her his expression changed remarkably and Inara was astounded to see so much devotion suddenly appear in the man's eyes.

"Yuna…this crazy girl…she invades ship and will not leave!" he said in a plaintive tone.

"She doesn't want to leave," declared River, suddenly stopping and staring straight at the man.

"Steady thoughts. Simple. Then she can hear the music." With that cryptic comment she resumed her silent dance, spinning around solemnly again.

"Well she certainly seems calmer," Book commented, to the agreement of Zoe.

"She dances like a real star," smiled Kaylee, leaning over a railing to watch her.

"It's all she's done since she got here," said a child's voice from the right.

"She just keeps dancing."

Mal looked to the source of the voice, seeing a small child sat at a console watching River.

"So any ideas of how to stop her?" Tidus asked him. Mal thought it was strange that the blonde seemed to be asking this child for advice with so much respect in his voice.

"I'm just a kid," the child replied shrugging his shoulders. His comment was innocent but for some reason it caused River to freeze.

"Genius," she spoke, her voice starting as a whisper but quickly growing louder, "gifted child, plays with the memories makes them real…curious and playful…can't know the danger…but they will. THEY WILL!" she became hysterical quickly, shocking everyone as Inara and Simon rushed forwards to quiet her.

"Sucking the planet dry! You're killing it! Have to stop before it's too late. STOP IT!" she screamed as Inara wrapped her arms around her, everyone else still frozen in place.

"Hush mei-mei," she cooed to the frantic girl whilst shooting Simon a meaningful glance. He understood her meaning, the syringe ready in his hand, and he inserted it efficiently into her nearest vein. Then, taking over Inara's role, he held her tight to him as the sedative quickly took effect and her sobs and screams quietened away to nothing.

"I don't understand," ventured Rikku quietly, having missed River's earlier disturbance.

"She was fine before."

Jayne laughed bitterly at that.

"Yeah, she was just shiny when she cut open my gorram head!"

"What did you do?" Tidus asked Simon, his eyes still on the now subdued girl and her brother with the syringe.

"A sedative," Simon replied, distractedly, watching his sister's now sleeping form, her breath still coming raggedly.

"We should get her back to Serenity," Inara suggested.

"No…something there set her off in the first place…she needs to be somewhere else," Simon responded, trying to think clearly.

"We have some beds in the galley," Yuna offered helpfully.

"That would be good, thank you." Simon nodded at her before beginning the process of moving his sister. Cid, however, who had watched the entire thing silently, turned to Mal.

"Once they've got her settled I think you need to tell us the full story about that girl."

XXXOOOXXX

The Celsius galley was huge. Upstairs River slept soundly on one of three beds whilst below everyone assembled in the spacious bar area. There had been quite a commotion when Serenity's crew caught sight of barkeep.

"What the hell is that?!!" Mal had screeched, instinctively reaching for his gun.

"Ish there a problem?" the blue skinned hypello replied inquisitively.

"Barkeep, these are some friends of ours. They've never seen a hypello before."

The creature's eyes widened at this.

"Surely that ish imposibibble?!"

"That thing is giving me an uncomfortableness," Jayne said warily his hand once more reaching towards his gun. Kaylee punched his arm lightly, beaming widely.

"I think he's cute!" she declared. Any more discussion on the subject was halted, however, as Cid entered the room.

"Enough with the chit chat!" he remarked and instantly a hush fell. They could tell he meant business.

"I want answers!"

The crew gathered around the small tables, still curious as to the nature of the strange creature behind the bar. Jayne couldn't help shooting it furtive glances as he grudgingly took a seat.

"So you gonna tell me why that girl of yours started screaming at the kid?"

"Something must have set her off. A thought, an action, it could even have been something completely unrelated to her current surroundings," Simon began.

"What do you mean, something set her off," Tidus challenged. "Has this happened before?"

"All the gorram time…" Jayne grumbled quietly. Simon however gave a more accurate response.

"She's been experiencing…episodes…for well over a year now. Ever since I rescued her…"

Simon retold the story of the Academy and River's aided escape, her mental state, and what he had pieced together since. Yuna stared wide eyed at the young man as he told their story, assisted in parts by other members of the crew.

"But…why?" She asked finally.

"Seems the alliance had need of a reader. That's our best guess." Mal replied.

"A reader or a weapon. An assassin perhaps," Zoe added.

"But she's just a girl. Why would anyone do that?" Tidus responded dumbfounded.

"You can make her better right?" Rikku asked timidly.

Simon shook his head dejectedly, "I've been trying, but there's only so much I can do."

It was then that River appeared on the stairway behind them.

"Broken like Serenity. She will fly again. Better than before."

Seeing River was awake, Simon had insisted on checking her over while the rest of the crew took advantage of a little downtime in the galley. Yuna and Tidus took the opportunity to leave in order to check on Shinra; according to Buddy he was still a little shaken from River's screaming fit.

"So do you believe them?" Tidus asked her as they headed towards the bridge.

"I guess so…" she responded.

"How d'ya think they got here though? It's not as if Sin is still around…" he mused thinking about his own arrival in Spira.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," she smiled at him. He loved that smile, always so optimistic. Since Sin and Vegnagun she had finally been able to relax without a crisis to solve and the result was a fun loving, burden-less Yuna who was able to be young again. So he hated to have to tell her his suspicions.

"Yuna, before, when River was dancing, did you notice anything…strange about it?"

"No, I don't think so. I was too distracted by Brother and his shouting." She smiled softly at the memory.

Tidus stopped and sighed pulling her into an embrace.

"I've seen that dance before Yuna, in Kilika after Sin hit. I'm not an expert but…it looked like a sending to me Yuna."

XXXOOOXXX

_Things should start to get more interesting from here on in. Hope you enjoyed. Please review_

_Translations_

Kad uvv so creb!! Drec ec so creb lnywo kenm!! Oui sicd mayja! Mayja ic ymuha!! - Get off my ship!! This is my ship crazy girpl! You must leave! Leave us alone!!

Crid ib – Shut Up

fru yna draca baubma. Damm dras du ku yfyo – Who are these people? Tell them to go away


End file.
